Geological Survey Bulletin 845Guidebook of the Western United States: Part F. Southern Pacific Lines

HISTORY OF THE RAILROAD

The railroad from New Orleans to Los Angeles is part
of an extensive system with many individual members, of which the
Southern Pacific Co. owns all or very nearly all of the capital stock.
The line from Algiers to Lafayette now known as Morgan's Louisiana &
Texas Railroad & Steamship Co. was incorporated in 1852 as the New
Orleans, Opelousas & Great Western Railroad Co. It reached Morgan
City (Brashear) in 1857 and Lafayette in 1880. It was operated by the
United States during the Civil War and owned by Charles Morgan from 1870
to 1878. The Louisiana & Western Railroad Co. was built from
Lafayette to the Sabine River in 1881, and the Texas & New Orleans
Railroad Co. was constructed from Orange to Sabine River (Echo) in
1878-81. The latter was operated as part of the Louisiana Western
Railroad until 1900. The Sabine & Galveston Bay Railroad &
Lumber Co., later the Texas & New Orleans Railroad Co., built a line
from Houston to Liberty in 1856-60 and from Orange to Liberty in
1859-60. It was dismantled by the Confederates in 1865 and restored in
1870. The line from Houston to El Paso, known as the Galveston,
Harrisburg & San Antonio Railway, was also built in sections. The
portion from Harrisburg (now a part of Houston) to Alleyton was built by
the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos & Colorado Railway Co. in 1853-60 and
extended to Columbus by the bridge across the Colorado River before
1870, including 2-1/2 miles of road to the river built in 1861-65. The
line from Columbus to San Antonio was constructed mostly in 1873-77, and
the line thence to El Paso was built in 1881-82 by a contractor
recompensed by bonds and capital stock. From Sierra Blanca to El Paso
the tracks are used jointly by the Texas & Pacific Railway on a
rental basis.

The lines west of El Paso were built in separate
portions by local Southern Pacific organizations, since 1902 combined in
the one general company. The tracks were laid from Yuma to El Paso in
1879-81, and the line from Los Angeles to Yuma was built in 1873-77.